Athabasca’s Going Unmanned - The Transformative Potential of Drama in the Education of Incarcerated Youth

The culmination of three years of drama-based research with youth as part of the Native program, with program coordinator Doreen Lesperance, at a provincial youth corrections facility, is a new play Athabasca’s Going Unmanned written by researcher Dr. Diane Conrad, Associate Professor of Drama/Theatre Education in the Department of Secondary Education, University of Alberta.

The play, set in a jail in Alberta, tells the story of three incarcerated youth and three Corrections staff who work with them. Focusing on an escape plot hatched by the youth, through video projection and live performance, the play examines the needs of the youth and the prospects for offering them programming with transformative potential.

The play aims to raise awareness about the disproportionately high incarcerations rates of Aboriginal youth, and Aboriginal people generally, across Canada – with implications of systemic racism in our country – a human rights issue that demands all our attention.

The play is produced in collaboration with The University of Alberta, Department of Drama’s Canadian Centre for Theatre Creation – Play Director: Ian Leung, Dramaturge Prof. Kim McCaw. It is a Canadian Actor’s Equity Association Guest Artist Policy Project. Dr. Conrad’s research study The Transformative Potential of Drama in the Education of Incarcerated Youth is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, winner of the 2006 SSHRC Aurora Prize. The performance venue is the new Arts-based Research Studio, 4-104 Education North, funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Performance dates are Wednesday February 17th 8 p.m., Thursday 18th 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., and Friday 19th at 2p.m. & 8 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door for $10.00 with proceeds going to the Young Offender Centre’s Native program.